It was a pleasant change from the glum-mer days of the old Wembley, when scattered clusters of people peered gloomily at a struggling England team over the vast, empty wastes of the dog-track.

The mountain lion was later killed by wildlife officials after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal.

Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree.